We Are Hosea’s Wife // by Marialicia Coates

Done? Okay! Good Lord! There are so many things to say, and honestly, it’s an “ouch” chapter. But you know what? Truth can hurt, but normally when truth hurts it’s because we needed to hear it. This leads me to tell you something about myself that you will probably find ridiculous: I am obsessed with Brooke Fraser, or Brooke Ligertwood (whatever last name you want to use for her).

You can look her up on google if you don’t know who she is, but chances are you know about her, or at least you know a song or two she’s written. I’ve been listening to her music since she released her first album over a decade ago, and in one of her first albums she had this song:

She is telling us “we are Hosea’s wife” over and over in the song. Thankfully her voice is sweet, the melody is very friendly, and the rest of the lyrics are brilliant, because if one listened just to these first 4 words of the chorus they would confuse this song for an angry woman-degrading rap song.

Even though the title reveals the obvious, I believe chapter 10 specifically is a big part of this song.

“The hearts of the people are fickle; they are guilty and must be punished. The Lord will break down their altars and smash their sacred pillars.” (Hosea 10:2)

“They spout empty words and make covenants they don’t intend to keep. So injustice springs up among them like poisonous weeds in a farmer’s field.” (Hosea 10:4 NLT)

Verse two uses the word “fickle.” I had to look it up since English is not my first language, and to my surprise, this little word brought so much revelation and a direct link to my BFF’s song (BFF in my dreams at least).

Double mindedness is insecurity, and insecurity leads people to make wrong decisions. A person’s confidence or insecurity relies on their identity, and identity is either built by your past or by what the Word of God says. We don’t know Hosea’s wife’s past, but it definitely had some bad experiences, authority figures, and repetitious information and was not the best environment for her.

What we believe about ourselves will always determine what we end up doing in life. If an authority figure in our childhood said that we are dumb, and we don’t replace that belief with the truth that we can have the wisdom of God through Christ, we will end up making dumb decisions all the time.

“As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7)

If we grew up in poverty and don’t learn that prosperity is an attainable thing for everyone through God’s blessings and grace, we will continue to stay in that place forever.

I can go through every personal belief system, but the point is we have to renew our minds to God’s Word so that we don’t continue to live lives with fickle hearts.

The reason why we continue to betray God is because our identity hasn’t been renewed. Want a new identity? Renew your beliefs by believing what God promises you.

I had been asking the Lord why Hosea’s wife would continue to go back to her old ways even when he loved her in such a beautiful and pure way, just like we continue to betray God even though His love is so amazing and powerful. I feel like the Lord said that His love is very powerful and can change everything, but if someone doesn’t feel worthy of His love and doesn’t receive it, nothing can be changed.

In what area do you feel like you fall over and over again? Are you sure you have renewed your mind and identity on that area?